K all, here is the deal.
I bought a house and got a fish pond w/ it. Love it. Round pond 5 ft across w/ a depth of 2 ft. It has one large plant sitting on an underwater ledge in a pot which is growing nicely. I have 4 fish (one died while I was on vacation ) I believe they are goldfish and koi ...not exactly sure. Fish were fine early on. Went on vacation and came back (neighbors were feeding fish) and water quality went crazy. Algae blooms, no water circulation, etc...and the fish stopped eating....dont blame them...could hardly see the food.
Anyways, it turned out the filter was not set up right, and pumps were not moving water at all...clogged. The old owner moved outta state and the wife stayed behind to sell the house so I assume this is how it happened (maybe during routine maintenance?). I know it wasnt set up right cause the owner was anal about documents and left me everything....warranties, manuals, etc...so I have all the pump documents.
SO....I cleaned up a ton of muck off the bottom of the pool (leaves, etc). Cleaned out filter and pumps, reloaded filter cartridge w/ same rock media but added activated charcoal in a pouch. Changed 10% of the water cause I was afraid of doing a major water change (made sure to remove chlorine). I also added salt to the water during water change (4 tablespoons for the 20 gals. I added) Filter is moving major water now and have some nice circulation in pond...flow is going back into pond over some rocks for a nice waterfall and aeration help. Put a good net over the pond to avoid more organic matter in the water....catching everything...including frogs who keep finding their way back to my pond no matter how many times I chuck them over the fence into the woods, lol.
Pond water is actually clearing up a bit now (been 5 days) Tested water quality and had very little nitrates/nitrites, very low ammonia and a PH of 6.8.
In another day or two I will clean out the filter element again (keeping in mind to not clean the media, just the filter, because the pond water was terrible and I know the filter must have a ton of gunk in it (been cleaning the pump filters every 4 or 5 hours because of clogs). Yesterday I took the step of adding an Algaecide to help remove the algae problem faster....been keeping the water very aerated. Added enough to treat 240 gallons though I believe I have more water than this and I want to proceed with caution. And finally I added a barley pad to the pond which has sunk to the bottom.
Anyways....the fish seem happier...I can see the water a bit clearer. When I was cleaning the pond I caught a couple of them by mistake and they showed no obvious signs of illness or disease. I moved the plant in the pond during cleanup...and it has large overgrown roots which are now sticking out of the pot underwater. The fish have refused to eat but are now chowing on the plant roots like they are filet mignon!!! This was nice to see and plant has excess roots so I'm not concerned at the moment. I read that fish can go up to 2 weeks without eating so I've been high tailing it to get the pond back in tip top shape to avoid having die offs. SO......
Can anyone tell me if I have fish disease of some sort...or were the fish not eating cause of the water quality and will resume chowing as it continues to improve?
I will include pics and more water quality numbers in my next post.....thanks all.
P.S.
I have a Fishmate 1000 pressurized UV Filter....using half rock media/half activated charcoal in media tray.
Can some estimate how much water I have? Just an extra point....I have calculated different numbers so Im curious if my math is correct.
I bought a house and got a fish pond w/ it. Love it. Round pond 5 ft across w/ a depth of 2 ft. It has one large plant sitting on an underwater ledge in a pot which is growing nicely. I have 4 fish (one died while I was on vacation ) I believe they are goldfish and koi ...not exactly sure. Fish were fine early on. Went on vacation and came back (neighbors were feeding fish) and water quality went crazy. Algae blooms, no water circulation, etc...and the fish stopped eating....dont blame them...could hardly see the food.
Anyways, it turned out the filter was not set up right, and pumps were not moving water at all...clogged. The old owner moved outta state and the wife stayed behind to sell the house so I assume this is how it happened (maybe during routine maintenance?). I know it wasnt set up right cause the owner was anal about documents and left me everything....warranties, manuals, etc...so I have all the pump documents.
SO....I cleaned up a ton of muck off the bottom of the pool (leaves, etc). Cleaned out filter and pumps, reloaded filter cartridge w/ same rock media but added activated charcoal in a pouch. Changed 10% of the water cause I was afraid of doing a major water change (made sure to remove chlorine). I also added salt to the water during water change (4 tablespoons for the 20 gals. I added) Filter is moving major water now and have some nice circulation in pond...flow is going back into pond over some rocks for a nice waterfall and aeration help. Put a good net over the pond to avoid more organic matter in the water....catching everything...including frogs who keep finding their way back to my pond no matter how many times I chuck them over the fence into the woods, lol.
Pond water is actually clearing up a bit now (been 5 days) Tested water quality and had very little nitrates/nitrites, very low ammonia and a PH of 6.8.
In another day or two I will clean out the filter element again (keeping in mind to not clean the media, just the filter, because the pond water was terrible and I know the filter must have a ton of gunk in it (been cleaning the pump filters every 4 or 5 hours because of clogs). Yesterday I took the step of adding an Algaecide to help remove the algae problem faster....been keeping the water very aerated. Added enough to treat 240 gallons though I believe I have more water than this and I want to proceed with caution. And finally I added a barley pad to the pond which has sunk to the bottom.
Anyways....the fish seem happier...I can see the water a bit clearer. When I was cleaning the pond I caught a couple of them by mistake and they showed no obvious signs of illness or disease. I moved the plant in the pond during cleanup...and it has large overgrown roots which are now sticking out of the pot underwater. The fish have refused to eat but are now chowing on the plant roots like they are filet mignon!!! This was nice to see and plant has excess roots so I'm not concerned at the moment. I read that fish can go up to 2 weeks without eating so I've been high tailing it to get the pond back in tip top shape to avoid having die offs. SO......
Can anyone tell me if I have fish disease of some sort...or were the fish not eating cause of the water quality and will resume chowing as it continues to improve?
I will include pics and more water quality numbers in my next post.....thanks all.
P.S.
I have a Fishmate 1000 pressurized UV Filter....using half rock media/half activated charcoal in media tray.
Can some estimate how much water I have? Just an extra point....I have calculated different numbers so Im curious if my math is correct.
